100mm vs 120mm Front Fork Travel

[AllAboutRides]

Hi all

I’m in the market again to buy a MTB, I’ve always been used to riding 100mm travel bike but ever since I stopped cycling for a few years (covid and financial impact) 120mm came out.

Obviously I gained a few kg’s and is now +-100kg….wich one will work for me better?

Yes….hopefully cycling will make me shake a few kgs!

[Furbz]

120mm all the way.

newer bikes have slacker geo which makes them feel more stable vs the older steeper 100mm bikes/

120 vs 100 - major difference is the comfort. that extra 20mm really helps soak on the high end buzz and smaller bumps. massive advantage there 

 

 

[DieselnDust]

The big advantage of a 120mm fork is the 34mm stanchions. For a rider of your size, don't consider a fork with less than 34mm. The stiffness is important for good tracking and less fork flex through the travel which improves the forks small bump sensitivity due to less friction in the bushings as it cycles back and forth.

The fork tune will also make a big difference to what you select and this will be determined by whether your are more traction focussed or comfort focussed. 

Although 120mm sounds like a lot of extra travel in reality it isn't going to be felt, except maybe in big hits. Comfort can be tuned and and the airspring volume can be adjusted to tune the ramp up rate.

34mm and 35mm stanchions can be found in both 100mm and 120mm forks. I'd recommend you determine your budget for the new fork and then short list the available products that meets 34/35mm stanchion with 100 to 120mm travel (cue 130mm/140mm travel advocates...), compare features and tunability and then overlay what you want from the fork and that will narrow the discussion, otherwise its just going to devolve into pages and pages of personal opinion.

For reference, I recently switched from a 100mm fork to a 120mm fork. The biggest difference in performance has not been the increased travel but the massively improved damper and airspring. I actually lost out on some small bump sensitivity but have gained massively in traction and overall functionality of the fork. These far outweigh the extra 10mm of travel (20% sag vs 25% sag)

[love2fly]

My 2c.

I have a Rockshock 30mm extended from 100 to 120mm that everyone said would be spaghetti. Perhaps with some big drop offs or braking but it's just fine. Did a back to back vs my Fox 32mm at 100mm in the Cradle and my max speed through the Twistys below Bidon were identical. I believe the bushings in the 30mm can be an issue but after 6years my fork looks like new. If you can, trade up, but if you can only afford 120mm or 100mm on a 32 IMHO that's OK.

[Bub Marley]

It’s honestly all relative tbh. What works for some might not work for others. I also think the type of riding you do and also your own body type (weight, height) etc play a big role.

 

As an example, I am 1.65m and weigh 60kg. When I purchased a dropper post, I was advised to take the maximum drop i could get. However, upon testing I actually found that I preferred less drop and hardly ever utilised the full drop. For me, I liked the smaller drop just to get over the saddle and that was more than enough. I personally wouldn’t get anything more than 100mm. I could even go lower to be frank. However, a taller person might need more drop so it’s all relative. Wrt suspension at my weight, I am more than happy with just 100mm travel. It’s also lighter and makes it a better all rounder imo. Obviously if someone weighs 90 or 100kg, then that’s a lot af extra weight so for that person, more travel will probably be better. Your stanchions are also thicker and stronger to cope with that. So again all relative.